AUTHOR' S NOTE: Ok, I know this sound very similar to "White Picket Fence," but it is different, I swear. There is so much more to come on this story and you won't get the full affect until it all begins to come together. I have not quite decided if this will lead to EO romance or not, I need to get a feel for it first and see where it takes me. This story will discuss the topic of teen suicide and it is not for everyone. I just want to let that be known from the start so that I do not offend anyone. Thanks for checking it out! Chapter two is in the works! Please remember to review!

~ Detective Olivia Stabler ~

Forever Love

(Chapter One: Life As We Know It)

Olivia drove as quickly and carefully as she could. The lights on her squad car flashed and sirens blared, blending with the sounds of the ambulance she was chasing. When she arrived at the hospital Kathy and Elliot were already there, their son Eli had been brought in moments earlier in a different ambulance.

Olivia moved along the gurney that held her daughter until they reached two large steel doors.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, you'll have to wait here. We cannot allow anyone beyond this point," a doctor said rushing past her between the doors. "We'll do everything we can."

Olivia stood in shock, feeling a cold sweep over her body as the doors closed once more and she lost sight of Emma. She prayed that somehow everything would be alright, though deep inside she knew reality was that could very well have been the last time she would ever see her daughter alive.

"Mrs. Benson," a soft warm voice repeated from behind her.

"Yes," Olivia replied snapping out of her daze for a moment as she spun around to see a young woman in a nurses outfit. "Why don't I get you a bottle of water or some coffee and show you to the waiting room?"

She blinked as the young woman held out her hand.

"They just brought in my daughter," she mumbled wiping her hands over her face and looking over her shoulder at the doors once more.

"I promise I will let you know something as soon as they tell me. You look kind of pale, you should really sit down."

Olivia drew a staggered breath and forced a smile.

"A cup of coffee does sound nice," she said trying to make the girl feel helpful.

"If you want to have a seat in there I can bring it to you. Cream or sugar?"

Olivia pondered the question for a moment as if it really even mattered at all. Her body was so pumped full of adrenaline at the moment she probably wasn't going to taste it anyway.

"Black is fine," she replied with a smile. The stronger, the better, she thought to herself as she walked around the corner and into the waiting area.

In the corner of the room a woman sat holding a small child. The little boy had dark , glassy eyes and rosy cheeks and appeared as if he could have been running a fever. The child couldn't have been more than three or four years old and was sucking his thumb. He raised his head only for a moment to smile at Olivia, before returning his attention to the television on the wall where a Spongebob Squarepants cartoon was coming on.

She took a deep breath and scanned her eyes over the rest of the seemingly empty room, before taking a seat herself. She wondered for a moment where Kathy and Elliot could be. They were here somewhere, Elliot had followed the ambulance that took Eli and she had seen Kathy's car in the parking lot when she pulled in. She wondered how things were going with Emma and wondered about Eli as well.

The kids had disappeared together two days earlier and they had been searching the city streets for them. Still somehow, Olivia figured they would take care of each other and that everything would be fine once they found them. She never dreamed it would come to this.

A credit card company contacted Elliot after his credit card was used to pay for a room at a cheap hotel downtown. Cragen forbid either of them to do the follow up, so Munch and Fin stepped in. They sat for a bit waiting, then Elliot stood up and walked from the bullpen. Olivia recognized the look in his eyes when she tried to stop him, but he just shook his head and kept on walking. Olivia grabbed the keys to her squad car and followed him across town to the dump of a hotel where the kids had been found. The first ambulance was pulling away and Emma was just being loaded into the second when she arrived.

At this point all they knew was that both teens were unconscious when Munch and Fin arrived. It also appeared that Emma had vomited and she heard the medic say that Eli was seizing as they closed the doors behind him and drove away.

She forced another smile and her hands trembled as she accepted the coffee cup from the young nurse. Olivia stared for a moment into the dark brew, wishing it were something stronger. At this point they really had no idea what was wrong with the kids and all of the worst possibilities were running through her mind.

Kathy and Elliot were arguing when they entered the room. She over heard Kathy shout that this was his fault as she jabbed him in the chest with her fingertip. They stopped in the doorway and Olivia raised her eyes to look at them.

Elliot had tears in his eyes. His face was all red and puffy and it was obvious he had already been crying for a while. In all of their years as partners and friends Olivia had never seen him cry.

Kathy, however, seemed more angry than saddened. But everyone handles things in their own way. Her eyes locked in a glare on Olivia and the scowl of her brow announce that she felt Liv was to blame as well.

"I can't stay in here," Kathy snapped before pushing past Elliot and disappearing once more.

Olivia stared doe eyed at him, refusing to blink. Eventually Elliot made his way over and sat down beside her.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Kind of freaking out, you?"

"We're here," he replied looking back at the waiting room doorway. "Have you heard anything about Emma?"

"Nothing. Any news on Eli?"

"Not yet," he replied staring down into her coffee cup.

"It's still hot," she replied offering him the cup.

"That's alright."

"It's okay. I didn't really want it, but that poor girl at the counter was trying desperately to help, so I let her get me coffee."

"That was nice of you."

Their hands brushed for a moment as he took the paper cup from her hand and gulped the strong black liquid.

"What was that all about?" she asked looking back at the door where Kathy Stabler could be heard, but not seen.

"She's making some calls."

"No, I mean her blaming you for all of this."

Elliot stared into her eyes for a moment.

"You know what that was about."

"Elliot, anything that happened between us was years ago. Before either of the kids entered the picture. She's gotta know that it has been over between us for a very long time."

"She knows. She just can't forget. Every time we argue, it seems to come back around to this."

"And she doesn't trust you because of me?"

"She doesn't trust me around you because of me," he clarified.

"Must be hell considering we work together every day."

"Yea, sometimes I think it is," he replied staring into her with the cool blue of his eyes. "We slept together, Olivia. We had a thing. And I cheated on her. That isn't something someone can just get over."

"You were separated. The divorce papers had already been filed. And I can count on one hand the number of times we had sex. There is nothing between us but friendship. She forgave you. And she wanted to give it another shot and stay with you. She should find a way to get past it. Besides, that is hardly what matters right now."

"I know that. She knows that. She is just scared, like we are and she doesn't know how to handle it either. So she freaks out, just like you and I. Only she tends to freak out a little louder than some."

"God, what is taking those doctors so long?" Olivia exhaled standing to pace around the room.

"Let me know if you hear anything about Emma. I'd better go find my wife," Elliot replied.

"El, let me know about Eli, too. I really hope everything turns out alright."

Elliot smiled a half hearted smile and disappeared into the hall in search of Kathy.

Olivia sat in the waiting room for another hour, then she just couldn't take it anymore. She got up and began to wander around the hospital's emergency wing, eventually stopping in the hall in front to the two large metal doors that seemed to have swallowed her daughter hours earlier. She sat in the floor against the wall, carefully tucked out of the way of any oncoming traffic. If and when the doctors emerged with news, this is where they would come from. And this was as close as she could get to being with her little girl right now.

After a while, Kathy and Elliot appeared and took up residence on the opposite wall. Kathy seemed to have calmed her anger and was now in the tearful-worried state of shock. She clung tight to Elliot's arm as she sobbed and took only small hiccup type breaths.

Olivia looked down at the empty paper coffee cup she still held and felt guilty that she, herself didn't seem to have more tears. But she was too afraid to cry. Something horrible had happened here and she still wasn't quite sure what. Whatever it was, for better or worse, she knew this day would change their lives forever.

Olivia's head popped up as the large metal doors flew open. She jumped to her feet and watched as a doctor walked right past her and made his way over to Kathy and Elliot. Olivia tried hard to overhear the conversation going on across the room, but there were only quiet mumbles. She watched for a moment, nervously as the doctor blocked her view of Elliot and talked with his hands.

"Ms. Benson?"

Her head spun around to see Emma's doctor standing behind her.

"Yes?"

This was the same doctor who had stopped her at the doors and kept her from being by Emma's side.

"If you can come with me…."

Olivia gulped, feeling a knot rise in her throat. Of course they are not gonna tell you your kid is dead in front of a room full of strangers, she thought as she followed him through the doors.

"Oh God no!" she heard Kathy's voice from behind her and turned to see her drop to the floor in tears just as the doors closed behind her.

Eli was dead.